Teen dragged by car dies from head injury
Pair now facing murder charges in addition to unarmed robbery
The two men accused of dragging 18-year-old Kemoni Miller alongside their car during a robbery last week now face murder charges after the young man succumbed to his injuries, authorities said.
Miller died at Boston Medical Center on Wednesday morning after four days on life support, said Suffolk District Attorney John P. Pappas and state police Col. Kerry Gilpin.
Later that day, prosecutors approved murder charges against Dejon Barnes, 18, and Kenneth Ford, 23, who had been charged with unarmed robbery after the Nov. 16 encounter that left Miller critically injured, Pappas said.
The investigation suggests that Miller had negotiated the sale of an iPhone XS to Barnes online and met with him and Ford last Friday night on Gallivan Boulevard, authorities said.
The defendants went to the scene in a car Ford’s friend had rented, authorities said, and from the passenger seat, Barnes took the phone and closed his window on Miller’s arm as Ford drove off at high speed.
Miller was dragged about half a mile and suffered a life-threatening head injury when he fell from the car, authorities said. He was rushed to Boston Medical Center but never regained consciousness.
Using cellphone records, text messages, witness statements, video footage and other evidence, investigators identified Barnes as the person who had offered to buy the phone from Miller and Ford as the driver of the car that had dragged him, authorities said. State police arrested both men early Sunday at a West End party.
Barnes and Ford initially were charged with unarmed robbery and each held on $100,000 cash bail on Nov. 19. Their arraignments on the murder charges have not yet been scheduled. They are expected to return to court Dec. 4.